Device for performing an extreme hyperthermia treatment



Oct. 8, 1968 M. VON ARDENNE DEVICE FOR PERFORMING AN EXTREME HYPERTHERMIA TIREATMENT Filed Aug. 13, 1965 QOOHQODOO INVENTOR ATTORNEY8 United States Patent 3,404,678 DEVICE FOR PERFORMING AN EXTREME HYPERTHERMIA TREATMENT Manfred vou Ardenne, Zeppelinstrasse 7, Dresden-Weisser Hirsch, Germany Filed Aug. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 479,468 14 Claims. (Cl. 128-4) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hyperthermia device for increasing total body temperature to at least 44 C. and by locally heating a region of the body to about from 45 C. to 49 C. The device comprises a two-chamber tub, a partition between the two chambers abutting circumferential-1y the patients throat region, hyperthermal water supply means disposed in the body chamber, cooling water supply means at thehead chamber, displaceable short wave radiator for local heating, miniature temperature gauges for measuring temperature in the tissue, electrocardiotachograph, and automatic control means for instantly releasing the patient from the hyperthermal water.

This invention relates to a device for performing an extreme hyperthermy treatment for therapeutical purposes.

To render possible a repetitious and protective extreme hyperthermy treatment, special warm baths, if desired, in combination with a local high-frequency therapeutic treatment will be employed.

It is known to perform a general hyperthermy of the human body for therapeutic purposes. This is done either by producing artificial fever, or by an artificial admission of heat to the body externally. Artificial fever may be produced by drugs or biologic agents, such as pathogenic micro-organism, or by heating the human body externally, generally by means of warm baths. The application of warm water to perform an artificial body heating externally has been generally accepted compared with other possible means, like warm air, radiation and high frequency fields, because this treatment offers the most advantages, especially the advantages of fast and uniform warming of the body, and excellent control over the treatment.

lt has been a belief hitherto that the physiological fever temperatures of the human body should not be exceeded during the hyperthermy treatment of human beings, therefore the patient was placed into warm water baths, either in a sitting, or an horizontal position, whereby the head remained above the water level so that a cooling thereof can be performed, if so desired.

According to this prior practice, the body temperature is controlled with mercury-thermometers or with other large temperature measuring devices, generally rectal or oral devices. For a further controlling of the patients condition, various known devices, such as electro-cardiographs are used. During the extreme hyperthermy treatment, in a tempearture region of from 42 to 44 C. and higher, a substantial rasodilatorical relaxation of the blood vessels occurs, so that the patient is in a condition of an induced peripheral collapse, whereby the blood repulses in the deeper parts of the capillary regions. In the vertical position of the patient, as is practiced according to the state of the art, in generally known tubs, a dangerous absence of blood in the heart and in the brain is the result. This could be extremely dangerous already under normal conditions to the patient concerned, but even more so during the extreme hyperthermy treatment. For this reason, the patient must be horizontally positioned in a warm water bath. When employing the known technique, such a horizontal positioning of the patient would be only possible by keeping the patients head below the water level. This however is not possible, because the heating of the brain to the general hyperthermy temperature level should be avoided. Additional local heating to higher temperature values of the warm water bath were not performed, and were not possible, according to the state of the art. Moreover, known high frequency electro-therapeutic devices are not usable, because the carbons of electrodes are not protected and could not be used in water. The different types of known electrode systems, like capacitor field and coil field electrodes have the further disadvantage that they only achieve an unimportant depth effect due to a missing concentration of the energy field. The control of the body temperature, according to the known state of the art, does not permit temperature measurements to be performed at different locations of the heated tissue. The probes of these measuring devices are generally too large so that they cannot be introduced into the tissue.

Moreover, the remaining physiological conditions of the patient, especially the heart and circulatory system cannot be carefully controlled since the known system does not permit an optimum perception of an oncoming crisis. With the known system, changing tendencies of the patients heart beat cannot be promptly recognized as they would be with an electrocardiogram or counting the patients pulse, since there are no warning devices provided which would indicate a change in the patients heart beat rate.

It is a purpose of this invention to eliminate the shortcomings of the known systems and to provide an extreme hyperthermy of human bodies for therapeutical purposes.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device into which a human body can be horizontally positioned in a warm water bath, so that the patients head remains free and can be cooled separately.

A further object of the invention is to provide an additional local underwater device for heating defined parts of the body by means of high frequency.

Further objects of the invention are to combine these treatments with special body control devices, so that the process of the extreme hyperthermy guarantees a maximum of safety to the patient, as well as a therapeutical success. This is especially true in regard of employing a circulatory control device and a temperature measurement device with very fine probing elements which can be inserted into the patients tissues.

With these objects in view the inventive device consists of a combination of the following means.

(a) A two chamber tub for heating the body of a patient in a water bath by simultaneously cooling the head and throat regions while the patient is in a horizontal position.

'(b) A short wave device with special depth effects for a local underwater heating of the patients body between 45 to 48 C.

(c) Very sensitive temperature measuring probes for measuring the temperature in the tissue regions.

(d) A device such as an electro-cardiotachograph for controlling the patients condition of the heart and circulatory system, especially by continuously controlling the frequency of the heart beat. This device includes an automatic alarm device indicating the beginning of a crisis.

According to the invention, the horizontal positioning of the patient in the warm water bath is performed in a specially arranged tub, which is separated into two chambers by means of a partition located adjacent to the beginning of the patients throat, whereby the patients head is kept above the Water level. The body chamber is filled with flowing warm water, the temperature of which is some degrees higher than the desired body temperature of 44 C. The water level is adjusted so that the whole body of the patient is completely submerged. The head chamber can be kept dry or can be filled with flowing cold water, so that the water level is kept low enough in order to keep the patients face above this water level. A cooling of the head can be performed additionally or exclusively by means of ice bags. A heating of the blood which flows through the throat blood vessels towards the head should be avoided by cooling the patients throat. The partition which encompasses the beginning of the patients throat is formed in such a fashion that the patient can be removed freely without any difliculties.

The additional local underwater heating of the body by means of a high frequency from 45 to 49 C. is performed by using water tight coil field electrodes, which are provided with a ferrite housing which is open towards the patients body for increasing the effectiveness of the electrodes. The diameter of the coils will be varied corresponding to the desired depths of penetration of the short waves. The temperature measurement in the tissue region is performed by thermo-elements which are welded by means of laser rays into very fine hypodermic type tubes. The temperature is also simultaneously measured rectally and orally.

Thus it is possible to provide an extremely hyperthermy treatment with the above apparatus which can be performed repetitiously on the same organism with moderate risk to the patient, a treatment hitherto not possible.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to, and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter in which:

The single figure is an over-all showing of the device according to the invention.

With reference to the drawing, an inventive two-chamber tub 1 is shown, which is mounted on a hydraulic lifting device 2. A grate 3, for instance, a metal base comprising a pad interspersed with holes 4 is horizontally arranged on lifting device 2. Patient 5, who is to be treated with extreme hyperthermy is fastened to the pad by means of straps 6. The two-chamber tub I is divided into two chambers by means of a partition 7 located at the beginning of patients throat. By means of a foot rest 8, patient 5 is pressed against partition 7. Partition 7 is adjustable to accommodate patients of different heights. Partition 7 is so arranged that patient 5 can be quickly removed from the two-chamber tub 1 in case of an emergency, by partly draining the water from body chamber 9 and by Opening or removing partition 7. Body chamber 9 comprises a hot water supply inlet 10, a hot water drainage 11, an overflow 12 and an emergency drainage 13 in case that the patient has to be immediately removed. Water level 14 of body chamber 9 covers the whole body of patient 5. The temperature at that point is about 44 C. Head chamber 15 comprises a cold water supply 16, a cold water drainage 17, and an overflow 18. The relative low water level 19 of head chamber 15 is lower than that of the body region and keeps the patients face above the water level. The tub edges of the head chamber are lower than the tub edges of the body chamber. In addition, the patients throat may be cooled by means of an ice bag 20 to cool the patients blood which runs through the throat blood vessels to the brain. Head chamber 15 may also be used without water. In this case, head chamber 15 would serve to receive water leaking from body chamber 9 and melting ice water, etc.

The additional local heating of the regions is performed by underwater-eddy current-coil system 21, which is sealed and surrounded by a ferrite coating 22 which is open towards the patient. If required, several coil systems 21 could be arranged. The coils have a diameter corresponding to the depth of penetration of flux for the desired heating effect. These short-wave coils are preferably fed with a frequency of from 20 to mc. It is also possible to employ frequencies of about 13 me. Ferrite coating 22 is effective to direct a larger portion of the line of flux into the patients tissue.

The temperature control is performed by rectal or oral temperature probes 23 and 24 and especially by very fine laser welded thermo-elements 25 which are located in very fine tubules and are directly applied into the tissue, predominantly within region 26. The mentioned temperature measuring and total health condition surveying instruments may be operatively coupled with an additional control device which controls the emergency drainage 13 and the hot water supply inlet 10 to maintain automatically, the desired temperature and water level in respective chambers. The control of the condition of patient 5 is continuously performed by an electrocardiotachograph 27 by means of electrodes 28 and 29 or by any other type of measurement devices, especially by a constant registration of the instantaneous heat frequency in connection with the built-in warning device which responds to the stopping of the patients heart beat and also to bradycardia, tachycardia, and arrhytmia and by means of the control device instantly removes hot water through the emergency drainage 13.

It is to be understood that the embodiments herein are shown merely for illustrative purposes and that the invention is not to be limited to these embodiments alone, but rather by the claims appended below.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for performing an extreme hyperthermy on a patients body, comprising in combination:

tub means for receiving a horizontally lying patient; partition means disposed traversely within said tub means for dividing the same into a first and a second chamber, said partition means being adapted for encircling a periphery line of the patients body;

first liquid supply means arranged at said first chamber for supplying a hyperthermal liquid therein to a level exceeding the upper contour of the patients body;

second liquid supply means arranged at said second chamber for supplying a cooling liquid therein to a second level being lower than that of the patients face;

a displaceable depth-effect radiation device adapted for submersion into said hyperthermal liquid to contact a selected region of the patients body and for introducing an increased heat therein;

probe means disposed within selected regions of the patients body for measuring temperature therein; means for surveying the over-all health condition of the patient during the treatment; and

means for instantly removing the hyperthermal liquid from said first chamber.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said surveying means is an electrocardiotachograph provided for controlling the heart and circulatory condition of said patient.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein said electrocardiotachograph comprises an automatic emergency indication device for indicating the beginning of a crisis in the condition of said patient.

4. The device according to claim 3 wherein tub edges of said second chamber are lower than tub edges of said first chamber.

5. The device according to claim 1 wherein said partition means are adjoined at the beginning of the patients throat region.

6. The device according to claim 5 wherein said tub is provided with means for accommodating patients of different heights into close contact with said partition means.

7. The device according to claim 1 wherein said hyperthermal fluid supply means in said first chamber include a hot water supply, a hot water drain and an overflow.

8. The device according to claim 1 wherein said cooling fluid supply means in said second chamber include a cold water supply, a cold water drain and an overflow.

9. The device according to claim 1 wherein said liquid removing means include a controlled emergency drain arranged at said first chamber.

10. The device according to claim 1 further comprising an adjustable support means for a horizontal positioning of said patient, said support being interspersed with holes.

11. The device according to claim 1 wherein said radiation device is a short wave device comprising watertight electrically isolated eddy current coils having a sealed ferrite housing, said housing being open for radiation towards said patient.

12. The device according to claim 11 wherein said coils have a diameter corresponding to the desired depths of the heating effect.

13. The device according to claim 1 wherein said probe means comprise thermo-elements, said elements being welded into fine tubules by means of laser beams, said tubules being inserted into the patients body.

14. The device according to claim 3 further including a control device operatively coupled to said radiation device, said probe means, said surveying means, said fluid supply means and said releasing means for automatically controlling the temperatures and the Water levels within said tube and for actuating the indication device and said releasing means in dependency on the health condition of said patient.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 1,711 6/1864 Young 128369 683,690 10/1901 Johnson 128-376 XR 1,643,528 9/1927 Thurston 128-373 XR 2,098,316 11/1937 Sittler 128-373 2,292,666 8/1942 Schurtz 128369 XR 2,699,465 1/1955 Hamilton 1282.05 XR 2,916,743 12/1959 Hoshiko 128-369 XR 3,089,033 5/1963 Fujisawa 128-399 XR L. W. TRAPP, Primary Examiner. 

